Madison Police Fireside Five-Oh Living Room Conversations

Thanks go out to our friends in the Eken Park Neighborhood for hosting the first of what we hope will be many more Fireside Five-Oh neighborhood conversations.

We are pleased to announce the launch of this project, another opportunity for officers and citizens to make meaningful connections. The fireside chats are designed to be a more informal way to nurture important relationships. A resident may graciously agree to host an event in their home, on their deck or patio. The host is asked to invite eight to twelve friends, family and neighbors. A police officer or two, someone who typically works in that neighborhood, is also invited. With light refreshments provided by the guest officers the stage is set for a living room conversation lasting roughly 90 minutes.

The conversation is unscripted and determined by the interests of all the guests. Some subjects brought up at our Eken Park event were concerns about the interactions of police with youth, drug abuse, the frequency of police calls and parking issues. Perhaps more importantly, we had the chance to learn a little about each other on a personal level.

As we go forward, we'd like to invite others to host a Fireside Five-Oh in their home. At this time the project is limited to North District residents. It is our hope that these conversations will begin popping up all over the city. As I'm sure the guests in Eken Park will attest, the conversation was great and the snacks were pretty darn good too. If you are interested in hosting, please contact me to set a date and time.

From the North District Police: Crime Summary

Some interesting reading came across our desks the other day. The MPD Criminal Intelligence Section (CIS) put out a monthly crime summary for February 2016. The information was generated by our crime analysts along with police officers assigned to CIS. Most of the information in the document is for internal use intended to assist officers and detectives on their criminal cases. Some of the general information however is worth sharing with you.

Three highlights of the monthly report are in the sections for burglaries, thefts from autos and heroin overdoses. There is some serious food for thought from those sections.

Burglaries

A burglary is defined as entering into a building of another without the owner's consent with the intent to commit another crime (usually theft). Citywide in February there were 48 reported burglaries. Of those 48, only 5 were reported in the North District. Central led the way with 25 burglaries, many of which were through unlocked doors into homes or garages. Many times the entry was to a garage with the intent to steal money and merchandise from cars.

Thefts from autos

This has been an incredibly difficult year for these thefts. Through Feb 29 there were 249 thefts from auto (TFA) citywide. This is higher than any year in recent memory. These high numbers may be driven by youthful criminals but we suspect the still raging heroin epidemic is behind many of these crimes of opportunity. Here's another stunning number; less than 1% of these thefts involved forced entry into the vehicle.

Of the 81 TFA's reported in February, only 7 were reported in the North District. It is not known if under- reporting plays into our very low numbers.

Heroin overdoses

In the 29 days of February, the city of Madison was home to 17 reported heroin overdoses. Those are only the ones that were reported to us. There are likely more that were treated by friends or families that never were reported to the 911 center.

Sadly, the North District led all other districts in heroin overdoses recording 6 for the month of February. It is an epidemic. Please dispose of unused medications at our East District med-drop box. Prescription medication abuse is the leading precursor to opiate addiction.

The MPD uses this and other information from our crime analysts to identify trends and to inform the data driven deployment of resources. You can also take a few things from this information. First, lock your cars and homes. Don't keep valuables in your car. If you are an unfortunate victim, please take the time to report even small losses so that we know where best to send our officers. And please, dump those meds.

Madison Mallards Fireworks Dates

The Madison Mallards have announced their 2016 Fireworks dates. All are on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights and they plan to have then prior to 10:00pm (as quickly as possible after a game ends). The Sunday July 3 event will be slightly larger in celebration of Independence Day.

Friday June 3

Saturday June 11

Saturday June 18

Saturday July 2

Sunday July 3

Friday July 22

Madison Compost Bin and Rain Barrel Sale

Spring is here - and that means it's time to quench your thirst for gardening at the Annual Compost Bin And Rain Barrel Truckload Sale on Saturday May 7 at the Alliant Energy Center from 10am – 2pm. Discounted compost bins and rain barrels with a diverter are available. Individuals who pre-order before by April 25 will save an additional $10.

It is estimated that our urban communities contribute about 30% of the total phosphorus that enter in lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa, Kegonsa, and Wingra from runoff. By harvesting rainwater for your indoor and outdoor plants and putting clippings and leaves into a backyard composters, you don't just make plants healthier; you're also reducing run-off and the phosphorus that feeds our algae problem.

East Johnson Street Public Information Meeting

The city is planning a public meeting to discuss the reconstruction of East Johnson Street from Baldwin Street to First Street. The critical intersections of First Street and Fordem Avenue will be discussed.

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